Manchester City victory over Premier League with sponsorship rules declared void – What does it mean for Newcastle? | OneFootball

The Premier League dealt a devastating blow in its legal battle with Manchester City.

With an independent tribunal having met again and deciding that sponsorship rules that were enforced between 2021 and 2024, are now declared void.

The independent tribunal having previously ruled in October last year that three elements of the rules regarding Associated Party Transactions (APT) were unlawful, in particular around loans from owners and shareholders to clubs.

The shambles from the Premier League hitting new heights with the latest defeat against a Premier League club, when trying to enforce the ‘rules’…

The Times report that rival clubs could now seek compensation for any deals undervalued when rules applied between December 2021 and November 2024, as well as the Premier League facing legal costs in excess of £10m.

The newspaper also adds that; ‘The rules, introduced in December 2021 in the wake of the Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle United, were designed to maintain the competitiveness of the Premier League by preventing clubs from inflating commercial deals with companies linked to their owners. The rules had also been amended in February 2024.’

Whilst nobody wants it to a wild west no rules scenario as to how Premier League clubs act, surely nobody now believes that the sole/main purpose of these hastily brought in rules was to ‘maintain the competitiveness of the Premier League’.

Instead, a massive reason for these (act in haste, repent at leisure) new rules that were rushed in, was the exact opposite. It was to PREVENT competitiveness in the Premier League, to try and ensure that the richest and most powerful couldn’t experience other clubs closing the gap on them, on and off the pitch.

The ‘big six‘ desperately trying to keep their self-appointed (entitled) status, that had seen them draw ever further away from the rest.

As for the Premier League hierarchy, Richard Masters and others, surely they should be now considering their positions and be prepared to hand their resignations in. They are paid huge amounts to run the Premier League on behalf of the 20 member clubs and they have failed badly. Losing these legal battles with Manchester City has been embarrassing, the ‘rules’ drawn up under the watch of these Premier League bosses shown not to be fit for purpose. This has been shown far wider as well, when an embarrassing loophole was found by Leicester City’s legal team, even though they had clearly seriously overspent and should have had points deducted, this didn’t happen due to the rules having been badly written up.

Newcastle United are clearly one of these Premier League clubs, along with Manchester City, who very clearly may have a case for having lost out on serious sponsorship cash in recent years, with those rules now having been shown to be declared void.

The Times report – 14 February 2025:

The Premier League has been dealt a devastating blow in its legal battle with Manchester City after its sponsorship rules enforced between 2021 and 2024 were declared void.

An independent tribunal ruled in October last year that three elements of the rules regarding Associated Party Transactions (APT) were unlawful, in particular around loans from owners and shareholders to clubs.

City’s interpretation of the initial decision was that the APT rules in their entirety were void and that the unlawful elements could not simply be struck off. The Premier League dismissed these concerns and pushed ahead with amendments which were approved by 16 of the 20 top-flight clubs in November.

The rules, introduced in December 2021 in the wake of the Saudi-led takeover of Newcastle United, were designed to maintain the competitiveness of the Premier League by preventing clubs from inflating commercial deals with companies linked to their owners. The rules had also been amended in February 2024.

The tribunal, made up of three senior legal figures in Sir Nigel Teare, Lord Dyson and Christopher Vajda KC, held a further two-day hearing last month to discuss the issue of whether the rules as a whole were still valid without the unlawful elements and concluded they were “void and unenforceable”.

The decision could have wide-ranging consequences including claims from clubs seeking compensation for any deals undervalued between December 2021 and November 2024 as a result of the APT rules.

The Premier League is now facing legal costs in excess of £10million and questions over its fitness to regulate.

The conclusion of the 18-page second partial final award, seen by The Times, reads:

“In the first partial final award it was declared that the APT rules and amended APT rules were unlawful in three respects.

“There now arises for decision the question whether those three respects can be severed from the remaining APT rules so that those remaining APT rules are valid and enforceable.

“The three respects in which the APT rules and amended APT rules were unlawful cannot be severed with the result that the APT rules as a whole are void and unenforceable.”

The first partial award in October was publicly disputed by City and the Premier League. After that Simon Cliff, City’s general counsel, urged clubs to wait for the second award before pushing through with amendments of APT rules.

Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, insisted that their legal interpretation was that the tribunal had “endorsed” the APT rules, only identifying “certain discrete elements . . . that need to be amended”.

Cliff responded by accusing Masters of “misleading” clubs and maintaining that, by finding three elements of the APT rules to be unlawful, the whole system was technically void.

Masters argued that the unlawful elements of the APT rules could simply be taken out, leaving the remainder in place. City argued that was not possible, and the tribunal had agreed with them and found the rules to be unlawful as a matter of competition law and public law.

The Times reported last week that City launched a new arbitration on the amended APT rules introduced by the Premier League in November. The same tribunal will decide whether the new rules are “valid and effective”.

Should they also be declared void, it would open the door for the English champions, majority-owned by Abu Dhabi, to strike significantly higher sponsorship agreements with associated parties than previously allowed, including with Etihad, their stadium and shirt sponsor.

The continuing legal battle between City and the Premier League comes amid the case into the club’s alleged 130 breaches of financial rules, which is due to reach its conclusion in the next few weeks.

In a letter sent to the 20 clubs at 5pm on Friday, Masters acknowledged that the “previous rules as a whole are void and unenforceable” but attempted to play down the significance of the latest development.

“The previous APT rules are no longer in place,” he said, adding that “new rules were voted into force”.

“The league has previously told clubs that this decision was about the legal status of previous APT rules and would not impact the operation of new rules,” he added.